The Right Kind of Love is Harder than it Looks
by Karalena Cullen
Summary: AU, FutureFic: The greatest love story ever told between Bruce Wayne Gallio and Harleen Frances Quinzel. Even the brightest stars in the Heavens eventually burn and fall...
1. Chapter 1

**The Right Kind of Love is Harder than it Looks**

**By: Karalena Cullen** (in collaboration with Harlequin4ever and Selina Knight)

**Prologue: Burn**

The blonde suddenly appeared from the darkness, dark shadows on her face, under her eyes.. A dream like state entirely. Her clothes were ripped and shredded, dirty and bloodied, but the fire in her eyes we almost too real. One minute he was fitfully sleeping, empty liquor bottles littered the floor, just like the cigarettes did-and the next, his weary eyes opened to fall on her. She cut him off before he could even blink. "You know I blame you. I blame you for our children taking off. I blame you for how they came out after I died. It was all up to you, and you failed them. You failed _me_." She took a step closer, dark eyes seething. "You can't even keep your dick in your pants long enough to see what's right in front of you..!"

Suddenly she was lit up with bright blue flames, her face changing-morphing into a horribly disfigured, twisted, alter version of herself. "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO CHEATED ON ME TIME AND TIME AGAIN. THE ONE WHO I HAD TO PUT UP WITH, AND NOW I'M REALLY STUCK WITH YOU BECAUSE OF THIS _HUMAN_ GROWING INSIDE OF ME! YOU TURNED ME HUMAN! AND THEN YOU GET ALL JEALOUS BECAUSE I'M FRIENDS WITH ANOTHER MAN. CAN'T HANDLE THE HEAT BABY?!" She shrieked so loud the windows shattered. Glass flew in every which direction, scattered all over the place. The wind picked up, blew the curtains and left the place cold. She laughed a loud booming laugh that rattled the door frame. "Maybe I should just kill you and be done with it."

Wary, bloodshot eyes regarded her blankly. "Blame me all you like. Do you think I give a shit anymore what you think of me? You could have saved everybody the trouble if you'd only let me go to begin with. All those years ago..." His eyes seemed to roll slightly back to gaze up at the ceiling. He rocked slightly. Then, leveling his eyes back on hers, he lifted his fingers to his mouth, slid them between his lips and cocked his thumb back. Mimicking pulling a trigger, his cheeks flared and he dropped his hand back into his lap before letting out a hysterical little chuckle.

"You stupid sorry son of a bitch." A look so undignified marred her face as she looked at him. "So pathetic. So weak. You screw everything up. Everything you touch just falls apart."

The part where he mimicked the gun. She laughed bitterly. "As I recall...you arrogant asshole, I was pregnant with your spawns." Black eyes pierced his.

"A fact you did everything in your power to hide from the world. I had a family already. A marriage… a son. But you couldn't let me go. That's how it's always been, time and time again. You couldn't stand to lose out to anyone else." He was completely unfazed by her piercing gaze, his own eyes held hers with an almost bored expression.

"You seem to conveniently forget… I'm not the only one who fucked around." Here a dark shadow crept into his baby blues and coiled dangerously. "In the end… you were the one who had no shame."

She said nothing to this. She knew damned well what he was referring to, but he knew she would forever live in denial of the cold, hard facts of what had truly meant the end of their marriage… of their love that had once burned brighter than all the stars in the Heavens.

He gave her a strange, oddly sober look. Despite the pain, the shame, in his eyes, his voice sounded completely flat. Hollow even. "You weren't the only one who couldn't let go. I'm just as guilty. But this time it's different. This time… I can let you go. I can...and I _have_." He shook his dark head. "You were the one who couldn't let _me_ go baby."

She recoiled at that, venom in her words."Because you're piss weak. Can't handle the fire."

There was a slight pause. "I never could understand you. I guess I could never be 'the one' that tamed you. Or can you even be tamed?"

And then she was gloating. "You think you're god's gift to women, and the truth is big boy, you've got nothin' worth bragging about. I may have ended up in the wrong arms, but you're the one who pushed me there. You're the one who pushed us both there!" She bent down close to him, a shameless, wicked smirk on her lips as she said softly, almost sweetly, "The moment he touched me for the first time like that… oh so sweet and yes… yes so wrong… but baby, he loved me in ways you never could. Ways you never dared!" There was a low dark chuckle from her blood red lips, before she slapped him all too suddenly. "I'm not _yours_ anymore. I never will be again."

The sting of her palm was no surprise, and nothing compared to the sting of her words. They resonated through him, up from the darkest, coldest depths of his very soul. Echo's, mirroring all and every aspect of the most desolate and destructive emotions of all he was.

She was right. She wasn't his. This wasn't his wife. The woman he spent more than one lifetime loving. He was sure this was nothing more than A vile, goading replica of the woman he'd spent more than a lifetime in agony over. Sent here meaning to demoralize him... to break him.

This is what they did. This was their sole purpose of existence. Break you down, exploit any and all of your vulnerabilities, leaving you exposed... open. He forced himself to believe this because the alternative … _would_ surely break him utterly.

"It doesn't make any difference." He grit out, a maniacal grin forming on his cracked lips. "Do you think any man would put up with _you _for even half as long as I did?!" He shook his head as he spit his own venom right back at her. "Take the pathetic meat bag if you want him, it's only a matter of time before he sees you for what you _really _are! Only a matter of time before you fall off that golden pedestal he's spent an entire childhood envisioning you on. You're going to fall in his eyes soon baby. So soon. And when you do, he's not just going to leave you... he's going to send you _down_ to where you've belonged all along. To burn!"

The smirk on her lips was bitterly vicious. "It would have made all the difference in the world, Batty Boy." She laughed, hard, and then she was suddenly serious. Her features twisting into something even uglier than before.

"And was that a derogatory reference at being a wife...to _you_?" She snickered. "Do you know how hard it is to be _your _wife? It's not something easy. I doubt anyone else could fucking put up with all the bullshit you shove onto them. They'd crack, dump your sorry ass long before I did. You. Are. Worthless."

Then she was in his face once more, eyes incinerating deep within her. "Burn?" She backhanded him brutally across the face once more. "Burn?!" Her fingernails left a livid streak of his own bright crimson behind on his pale, scruffy cheek in their wake. "IF I HAVE TO BURN, _BABY_, YOU'RE GONNA BURN WITH ME!"


	2. Chapter One: The Passion Theif

**The Right Kind of Love is Harder than it Looks**

**By: Karalena Cullen **(in collaboration with Harlequin4ever)

**Chapter One: The Passion Thief**

Suddenly Bruce's lips were on hers. It all happened so fast. He was looking into her eyes and telling her something about nothing she could remember, and then.. Boom!. She freezes. All of her friends are just inside the theatre. All of her friends who are also friends with Crane. If they were to catch her lip locked with the notorious Bruce Gallio right out in the open lobby…! The word would reach her temperamental boyfriend quicker than she would be able to tap out the very first verse of _If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands. _the results of which could potentially be explosive.

Her heart is drumming out a frantic staccato in her chest, and then she doesn't know if she's the one pulling away or if he is. Dazed and confused, she can still taste him on her lips, and her face is etched in pain. Tears spring to her eyes and she looks up at him, not knowing what to say.

"Let's get out of here." His voice a deep, honey-rich drug.

She bites her lip uncertainly, her eyes darting towards the theatre entrance. "I..." When she looks back, he's already walking away, expecting her to follow. What does she do? She goes to take a couple of hesitant little steps,stops, tries again… stops again, and then let's out a soft little sob.

Bruce sits outside in the car, the engine running but he can't bring himself to shift it into gear. So many thoughts, fears, worries, and regrets weighing him down. He keeps looking at the door, thinking she's come out, but it's just his mind playing tricks on him. Or maybe it's his heart playing tricks...or a very confusing, painful game that he doesn't know the rules to. He feels like he's coming up on his last roll of the dice and if he rolls wrong that's it, _game over_. _Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars,_ j_ust go straight to hell with your heart bleeding in your hand_.

He jerks his head up to glance towards the door, but still no Harley. And just who is he fooling? She's not coming. He begins to think that maybe it was mistake to come back here. He should have stayed in his own time. In a world destroyed by a madman, a literal living hell, a world...without his Harls. But this too...is a world without hisHarls. No matter where he goes, or what he does, _his_ Harleen will always be gone. Maybe it's time to just face that reality. Go home, go back to the future, back to that hell on earth, to his home beneath the ground.

He knows the kids will want to stay, who could blame them? He certainly wouldn't. But they'll also want him to stay. He won't be able to bear it, and so...there will be no goodbyes. His jaw clenches in determination and he wipes the tears from his cheeks with the palms of his hands. He'll just have to try again soon… yes… yes very soon. Tonight, he's lost the battle. But tomorrow… well you know what they say, _hope springs eternal_.

Her actions affect everyone. She knows how she feels about Crane. But what she feels for Bruce…? She can't just let him walk out like that. That isn't like herr. She knows what he's waiting for and the least she can do is try to explain. Orbing out of the theatre lobby she appears in the passenger seat of his car. "Bruce.." Her voice cracks and she notices a stray tear on his cheek. Leaning over she gently brushes it away with her fingertip. Then placing her palm on his shoulder she spoke softly. "I hate to be the cause of your pain.. I can't let you walk away without telling you… telling you that … I'm… I'm sorry."

Her words hit his heart like a cement block thrown atop the chest of a drowning man. He can't bring himself to even look at her, it hurts too goddamned much. "Yeah.." His voice thick with heartache. His own heart is hammering. He can't think of a damned thing to say. What do you say to that? Without another word, he leans over her to reach for the door handle, her fragrant hair brushing his cheek as he does so. "Goodbye then Harley."

Harleen feels utterly disgusted with herself for putting him through all of this. She can pick up every subtle little change of emotion in his soft tone. Her shoulders slump and as he reaches over her to open the door she jumps slightly in her seat. Her eyes widening in panic and fear as her heart slams against her chest so hard it nearly knocks the wind from her. He was saying goodbye forever. He wasn't saying that exactly, but she just _knew_ he was _saying _it! She felt like she was about to be sick. " No! Bruce, please! You...you can't, not yet!"

His throat tightens and aches, but he shoves at her door to swing it wide open. He still can't look at her. Pulling back to his own side of the car he turns to look out his own window and waits for her to go.

Harleen doesn't move. She doesn't budge. She just sits there being stubborn as all fuck with her lips trembling. She's not going to do it! She _won't_ budge. She'll sit here forever if she has to but she will never say those words to him again! It only ended up with her name written on a head stone the last time. He had taken her to the future. She had seen it all for herself. And the thought of sending him back to that… terrible, terrible place all alone left her aching somewhere so deep down inside she thought she'd never be able to smile again. She knew it was selfish, wanting to keep him, even when she know's it's only going to cause heartache for everyone. But that same part of her, the part way deep down inside of herself that aches, can't stand to see him go. And so she grips the seat tighter and silently refuses.

Like a wounded animal wanting to run away to lick his wounds in peace, Bruce grips tight to the steering wheel, his knuckles white. Sensing she's being stubborn he let's out a small growl in the back of his throat. Then he shoves violently at his own door, throwing his shoulder a little harder than is necessary to open it. Damn near falling out of the car with the force of his own frustration. He's quick enough to steady himself on his feet and he marches directly around to the front of the car. The headlights momentarily cover him, illuminating his hardened and pained face as he makes his way around to the passenger side of the car. He yanks her door open, "Get out."

Swallowing down loudly, Harleen had noticed his death grip of the steering wheel and she felt a chill in her bones. She let out a gasp at his growl, boy. Following him around the front of the car with her eyes, she quickly diverts her gaze when she sees his stormy expression. Staring straight ahead and unmoving.

Her heart was really hammering away under her ribs now and she tries in vain to control her erratic breathing. If she's completely still, maybe she'll disappear. Surely, he wouldn't man handle her...would he? If he tried it, she would go down kicking and screaming and they both knew that. She thought he was being so fucking childish right now and suddenly she was more annoyed than frightened. When he demanded she get out of the car, she glared at him from under her pale lashes. Her voice was a stubborn creak, "No."

The metal cries out in protest as it begins to bend beneath his frustrated grip. His mind flying and his heart hardening in an anger brought on by pain. Betrayal and frustration, obsession and confusion. He has given his everything to this woman. Exposed his raw and bleeding heart out to her, only to her. And what does she do with it? Crushes it with her claws.

He's given her his every breath, his every heartbeat. He's given her his all and his everything. And she's thrown it off, pushed him aside at every _wrong _every time. Choosing that inferior, that _insignificant _little weasel over him every time! It was all pointless, needless suffering. They all knew how the story ended, the history had already been written. But how did that add up now? Was he re-writing his own history now just being here? He had already had his happy ending with her. And then he had lost it. She could never imagine the life that they'd shared, the children they'd raised, and the happiness they'd lived. Only to have it all snatched away prematurely. It should have been enough to last a lifetime. And perhaps it might have been enough to last a mortal lifetime. But Bruce had sacrificed his own mortality lifetimes ago now it seemed. Sacrificed for her. For the sakes of their then unborn children. _She's not the only one hurting. _ "What the hell more do you want from me Harley? I've already given everything I have to give for you. I don't have anything left!" He grit the words out through his own heartbreak.

Harleen's face was a mask of determination as she glared at him. She grit down on her own teeth, feeling his agony as her own. It's killing her that she's putting him through all of this, but she could never confess that to him. Not here. Not now. Not without betraying the man she had already given her heart and her loyalty to. She had thought Bruce had been lost to her years ago. She had suffered through and endured that heartbreak. It had been the greatest pain of her lifetime. Jonathon had been the one who had been there to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. Jon had been the one who ever so bumbling and broken as he was… tried to sew all the pieces back together, however indelicately at times, but it _meant_ something to him...to her.

It wouldn't be fair to Jon for her to snatch the heart he'd been working so hard on mending away from him, only to hand it back over to the man who had been responsible for shattering it in the first place. Even if Bruce could infuse it with his own special brand of passion, of love that had it swelling and pumping powerfully alive within seconds in ways that Jon could never achieve should he dedicate his entire life to the purpose.

"I don't want you to go." Her words a soft and pleading whisper. A raw and simple truth.

The raw and simple truth was written plainly in her eyes. Her words rang straight through to his heart. It was all entirely too convincing. It was the moments like these that found him confused. Found him lost in the memories of a dream that had ended so long ago. A dream he so desperately and admittedly so foolishly wanted back again.

But this _wasn't_ a dream. He had to keep reminding himself that she was flesh and blood and he'd heard it all before from her. The promises she whispered from her heart to his, only to betray those hearts time and time again. It was the worst kind of betrayal because it wasn't only him she was betraying. In denying the truth of what her heart knew, she was denying him and betraying herself.

Just as he feels the whisper of hope, his anger flares with a desperation. He can't afford to hope again. The next betrayal would break him utterly. His hands snap out to grab her wrists. Even in his anger though he's controlled. He's keenly aware of the pressure he's exerting on her wrists. Enough pressure to let her know that he's serious, but not enough pressure to do pulls her away from the car and back towards the theatre. His eyes flare and scorch and into hers. He holds her there for a heartbeat, two heartbeats. Then pushing back, he releases her and turns to march back to his car.

Harleen was nearly shaking with the tension. Her eyes widen at his tight, pulling grip on her wrists. She hisses as he yanks her back, and then she's a prisoner in those eyes of his. Those damned eyes that sear straight to her soul. Her knees turn to jelly. Her heart beats with his. There's the sensation not unlike falling. Rocketing powerfully through time and space itself. And just as she feels she might just crash and burn… he let's her go. Disoriented, she blinks and stumbles back slightly, and then he's leaving. He's _leaving_!

"No!" She screeches out and launches herself at him. Clawed fists flying at him, grabbing for him. He wasn't going to get away with this. She wasn't going to let him leave again! "You'll have to kill me first!"

His arm shoots up, protecting his face. Her nails catch the back of his hand, leaving two bright, red streaks of blood in their wake. She snags a hold of his shirt sleeve with one hand and fists her other hand in the front of his shirt.

He catches her wrists in the tight grip of his hands. He spins her around so that she's back facing. He pulls her close, crushing her tight against him. His arms crisscrossed over her chest, trapping her flailing arms, pinning them down. Her soft hair tickles over his nose, his chin. "Can't you see how much _this_ is already killing me?!" He croaks out. Closing his eyes he presses his cheek to the back of her head, taking in a sharp breath.

Everything just happened too quickly. He grabbed at her wrists and twisted her around. Struggling and squealing incoherently, she tries to jab her elbow back hard into his stomach but he deflects the blow by crushing her to him. Restricted in the vice grip of his arms, she's finding it difficult to breathe. Her heart beating like a murder of crows so hard she fears her chest might break. "Oh god Bruce, just kill me now." She cries, "Kill me now and put us both out of this misery!"

Her words are a painful blow to his heart. His hold on her loosens, and he stumbles back stunned. All the blood has drained from his face, and his eyes are wide and aching pools of deepest blue as he gazes at her. "I can't believe you just said that to me." His voice cracks brokenly.

Gasping softly, she set her lips set in a thin line. Her eyes hard and empty as she throws her hands up in exasperation. "Why don't you do it?" Her palms fall back down with a hard smack against her sides. "Huh? Why don't you?! Because that's what'll happen anyway when you leave me again!" Tears brimmed in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling.

His hand snaps out and he grabs her firmly by her jaw, squeezing her mouth shut. His face an inch away from hers, his eyes are cold sapphires as he growls out at her. "That would solve all your problems so easily wouldn't it, baby?" He let's her go and takes a step back. His eyes holding hers with an agonized ferocity. "I'd forgotten just how selfish you can be sometimes. You're acting like a goddamned spoiled brat. Faced with a choice you don't want to make, you'd rather bury your goddamned head in the sand then step up and take what you know you want. What we both want! Christ, Harley, you know as well as I do where you belong. Why are you fighting this… fighting _us_ so hard?!"

Her palm whipped out, backhanding him hard across his face. "How dare you talk to me like that!" Yanking herself away from him, her eyes were hard and unforgiving. Without another word, she turned to stomp away in a tantrum. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. She didn't want to admit to herself how true his words rang.

He was right. She was being a coward, but that didn't change anything. Stopping short, she spun back on him. "I don't want to make this choice again Bruce. I'm not a fucking coward. The last time I made this choice, someone we both loved very much ended up dead!"

His face stinging from the force of her slap, he bows his head and bites down on his lip to control his emotions. He raises his eyes back up to hers. Filled suddenly with old grief, so much regret, he shakes his head. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't still feel badly about that. I did love him, that's true. But I would make the same choice again and again, every fucking time because I will always love _you_ above anyone or anything else."

Fearing she might fly off, he reaches for her hand, securing it with his own. "Maybe I'm the one being selfish here. And a coward, because I'm taking it all out on you. But Christ, Harls…" He brings her palm up to press it over his beating heart. "This is killing me. Being here with you like this and not..not being able to hold you. Not being able to touch you and kiss you and love you the way that my soul cries out to love you." He closes his eyes and grimaces as if he's just been physically hurt. "I know how much my being here is hurting you. But it's only hurting because you're fighting against a force more powerful than both of us put together. I'm begging you… either let me go, or stop fighting what you know is a losing battle."

Trying so very hard to control her breathing, she looks up at him with desperate eyes. But as he takes her hand and places it to his hard chest, she can feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her touch. Sorrow etches her face. "Everything with Jack happened so quickly. I didn't even realize until it was too late what was happening. We were too caught up in each other to see anything else. To think or consider the consequences of our actions. We kind of found ourselves together, Bruce, and I…" She doesn't know what to say. "You… you left me once. And it nearly killed me. I was so close, one slip off that bridge... And I was so afraid." He voice was a trembled and she licked her lips, grimacing. "But now you've come back. Out of the blue, and it… it just doesn't feel real. I'm afraid to trust it Bruce. I'm afraid that you're going to disappear again. Like it could happen again at anytime.." Sighing, she closes her eyes and shakes her golden head. "I've built another life now, away from the painful memories of the past. Without you... I had to for the sake of my own sanity, my own survival. I can't throw it all away now on the promise of a dream."

Guilt, tinged with heartache and then laced with anger as he remembers the pain that she has caused him as well. They've both hurt each other. Again and again. But he pushes that all down and presses beyond it because it doesn't matter to him. He already forgave her for hurting him a long time ago...a very long time ago. But she wouldn't know that. For her, it hasn't happened yet. And he growls softly in the back of his throat at the frustration of it all.

"I know I've hurt you before. But it was not by my choice, Harley. I didn't set out to hurt you then and I'm not intentionally trying to hurt you now. I don't know how to ensure your trust in me again.I'm not the same man I was before. It was the biggest mistake of my entire existence and I learned some very hard lessons from that. What I'm offering you right now _is_ forever, Harley. Heart, mind, body and soul..._yours, _forever. Even if you turn from me now and never look back...I will always love you, and I will always be...incomplete without you."

"But that's the _thing_! I _do _trust you, Bruce. I trust you more than my own life. And maybe that's why it hurts so much. It hurts when you're here. It hurts when you're not. Either way, I can't win! What I want to know is…" She takes a deep breath, to try and calm herself down. It breaks her heart, but she needs to know the answer. "If I spread my wings and fly... If I go out and explore, get lost or make mistakes…" Her eyes open, deep blue and full of emotion, pleading. "Can I always come home? Would you be there even if I didn't choose you?" And this was the hardest for her to say, but he needed to hear it. He needed to know it and she needed to know just how conditional or unconditional his love truly was. "What I have with Jon… is different. But I.. really do love him. And I won't hurt him. I can't do that to him, Bruce. But… the thought of losing you, of you disappearing again or turning your back on me…" Her chest rose and fell in tiny little spasms.

Her words are like a cold, rusted-edged blade ripping through his soul. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to remember how to breathe. He remains silent and waits for her to finish tearing him apart inside. When she's done, he lifts her hand to place a gentle kiss to it, before letting it go. Even though there are tears threatening in his eyes and his very soul is screaming inside, he swallows it all down. "Nothing will ever change how I feel for you, Harley, you know that. But I can't stay here and watch you loving somebody else. I'm not _that _strong. There are very few things in the Heavens and here on Earth that can break me. And that… that will break me. But if you want to be free my love, then you can be free. I'm not going to hold you back. I want you to be happy."

The kiss to her hand was a gentle and touching gesture and her heart bleeds at his words. "I don't want you, to watch me, be with someone else. I know it kills you. It kills me too. But remember, I end up with you anyway. I don't know what happens in the meantime, but you do. Trust in that? Please? I can't hurt Jon. I'm not that cruel."

She swallows the bitter lump in her throat and tries so hard not to crack. "If we do end up together again… I … I _die. _There is no happy ending because I die in the end. How do you think knowing that makes me feel? Knowing that I'm going to die and there isn't a goddamned thing either one of us can do about it. Do you really think something like that isn't going to terrify the piss out of me? That it isn't going to influence my decision for right now?"

She shakes her head, she doesn't need his answer, it was rhetorical. A stray tear slips down her cheek. "You say it doesn't matter because you claim that we're always meant to be together. But if I choose you, I know for a fact that I'm going to die. I'm afraid, Bruce. I know I'm still young and there's still time… but I don't think any amount of time or age is going to change the fact that I'm afraid to die."

"But that's not written in stone, Harley! Don't you see?! The story is already being _re-written._ When I chose to come back here, I didn't come alone. I belonged here once but the kids never did. By coming back here, by bringing the kids with me, it's like… time's been reset." He struggles trying to explain it so that it makes sense. He needs it to make sense to her so that she can believe it. "The timeline has not only shifted and changed, but it's been wiped, like hitting a reset button. What's happening right now, this very second, you and me, never happened before. And what happens in the next few minutes, hours, days… hasn't been written yet. it's all being re-written every moment of everyday that I remain here. I _don't_ know what the future will bring. I only know what it _was_."

Pulling his fingers through his dark, wild locks, he took in a deep breath through his nose, his chest rising as he did so. "But I do know this...I'm not going _let _you die. Not as long as I'm breathing. I want to re-write our story Harls, but I can't write it alone. Please…?"

Her blue eyes widen, "And what happens if you make it worse? If we make it worse? What if you aren't there? Huh, what if in this new story I die before the kids are even born? What happens to them then? This isn't just you and me Bruce! There are so many other lives to consider here. So many other lives that could be destroyed."

Sighing softly, she shakes her head. "And none of that really matters anyway because in the end… I can't make this decision. Not the way you expect me to. I can't hurt Jon like that."

He let's her go, frustration and anger flaring up inside. "Then don't fucking choose, Harley! Go on...go with him. But that's still a _choice! _Life is full of choices and decisions that people make whether they actively choose to make them or not. It's still a choice!" Muscles twitched from the hard tension in his jaw. "But if that's what you decide, I'm begging you right now… you have to let me be. You have to let me go because I can't stand here and fucking watch this!"

Suddenly, he lashes out and grabs hold of her. Yanking her to him, he crushes her hard to his now vibrating body. His mouth takes hers without permission. Hard and possessive, he kisses her with the desperate passion of heartbreak.

Then, just as suddenly, he releases her. "I'll wait for you as long it matter what the cost to my own aching soul. When you realize your mistake… when you realize that I was right, that we _are_ meant to be together…I'll still be here. I will always wait for you, Harley. Even if it takes a lifetime. Fool that I am."

He pulls away from her, leaving her on the sidewalk while he makes his way to his car. Opening the car door, he pauses, "Just don't expect me to be sitting around fucking whistling dixie and whittling wood while I wait." His voice is a bitter, angry growl. The pain is sharp in his bright eyes, and then he disappears to sink into the car. The car door slams with a sharp bang. He has to get out of here. He can't take another moment of this agony. He knows he's copped out. Knows that _he_ is the one making the mistake. Knowing that in the end… he was the one who was going to regret it all. So why stay? Why walk into a trap that you've only set up for yourself? He slams the car into gear, and the tires spin with a loud, burning squeal before he peels out onto the road and roars away. His taillights burning an angry red in his wake. _Because… love stinks. _ As he speeds away, he answers his own question with a quiet growl._"Yeah, yeah…" _


End file.
